John Hicks Artist and Lecturer
GARDEN PAINTINGSAs a fine art student attending an English provincial art college in the late 1950's and early 60's I was taught by lecturers steeped in the tradition of social realism, influenced by artists like John Bratby and Ruskin Spear. Unfortunately, this entailed spending a deal of time trying to find inspiration from dustbins in back yards, when I preferred the Dahlias round the front.
This put me off oil painting for almost forty years, turning to lithography and later to textiles, where the decorative, the sensual, the colourful, and the craft of making are positively encouraged.
With my retirement from full-time teaching, in 1994 I was able to take an MA in textiles at Goldsmiths College, London. Paradoxically this wonderful course gave me the confidence to work in all mediums - including oil paint on canvas. The breakthrough came with a performance piece: Painting by Numbers (May, 2000) when I began to explore the English countryside and my own town garden in Winchester.
These paintings were completed in a spare bedroom before my studio was completed in 2003. The glimpse of my garden through a narrow window offered an ideal subject to chart my progress. The composition remains fairly constant, colour and mood alters with the seasons. Click on the thumbnails for enlargement and details.
Comments or questions regarding this site? johnd.hicks@virgin.net Return to home page
